tanned raze he made a game of it. to see who could cook their carcass a darker hue without searing straight through to the bone. we would stand arm to arm and compare the colour of our skin. he always won. the scent of sunscreen is what i remember most. something sweet stung with coconut that lived in a bottle more bronzed than i could ever hope to be. my mother's hands, and then my own. there's still sand in the jewel case that safeguards an album i asked to burrow into the holes on either side of my head the day i burst into flames. now i'm as pale as a corpse kissed by the pillory. cinders to sediment. rags to rust. 250627 what's it to you? who go blather from